


Blue, Then White

by homebody



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, color soulmates au, less angsty I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:18:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homebody/pseuds/homebody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashlyn meets her soulmate, Ali, and the whole world gets a lot bluer.</p>
<p>In a good way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blue, Then White

**Author's Note:**

> I loved the reception for the last story, so I hope this one is good as well!

“I don’t need to see the color of the water, dude.” Ashlyn says with a shrug. Tobin walks next to her as they head down to the beach, surfboards under their arms and wetsuits zipped up to their necks. Tobin glances over with her eyebrows raised. “I can feel the color.” “And I can smell shapes.” Tobin deadpans.

Ashlyn rolls her eyes because of course, Tobin doesn’t get it; that’s what happens when you meet your soulmate in the first week of college. Alex is somewhere on the shore with the dog that she and Tobin share, eating the sandwiches that they packed before heading out to the beach. “You walk a fine line between realism and pessimism, Heath.”

“I’m not a pessimist. I was telling you the truth.”

“Have you ever seen stars, Tobin?”

Tobin stops and quirks her head. “...Yes?”

“I’m about to make you see them again.” Ashlyn threatens jokingly, raising her fist. Tobin smirks and gives Ashlyn a fist bump before running into the water, diving into the ocean with a loud laugh. Ashlyn follows, kicking her legs as the water passes over her head and down her back. It feels good.

She comes up above the waves and the sky above her is pale gray. Ashlyn sighs.

The disheartening moment is just that, a moment, and then she’s paddling out after Tobin. The water is cool but the breeze is warm, it’s a good contrast. If Ashlyn had her way, she would roll off the board, grow gills, and never see land again. But of course, that’s unrealistic. She knows if she said it out loud Tobin would say something backhanded like “And a fish with legs will take your place.”

_Maybe my soulmate is a mermaid._ Ashlyn thinks.

They surf for a while, catching the waves they like and diving under the waves they don’t. Tobin’s a much better surfer than Ashlyn and Ashlyn isn’t afraid to admit that. The woman lives her life on skateboards and, more recently, a unicycle. But the waves wear them down little by little until the pair finally relent and they paddle back inside.

“Real talk.” Ashlyn says, her board so close to Tobin’s they bump periodically. “What does the ocean look like? With color?”

“It’s really pretty. It’s blue.”

“I know that.”

“It’s a lot of blues. Some parts are darker than others, and some parts are lighter. The foam isn’t always white and sometimes it has green hues. Alex’s eyes are like, nearly the same color as this water.” Tobin adds at the end.

It’s hard to imagine colors that you’ve never seen before. That being said, Ashlyn never stops trying.

***

She goes to the beach on her own.

It’s almost empty, which isn’t surprising on a Wednesday evening, so Ashlyn picks a spot close to the water and lays down her blanket. She’s still in her work clothes -- dark pants and a gray shirt -- and watches the waves. She knows that the foam from the water is white, she can see that part, but the rest of the ocean is steely and slow, rolling in and out, in and back out again.

There’s another person nearby but Ashlyn can only make out the figure. A woman and a small dog, jogging along the edge of the water. She runs past Ashlyn but doesn’t look up from her phone, her feet kicking up sand and her dog trotting alongside her. Ashlyn thinks she’s pretty, but she doesn’t say hello. Instead, she just watches the woman run by in her pale joggers and sports bra.

Something pops out of her pocket and lands on the ground. The woman doesn’t notice, but Ashlyn does. She gets up and picks up the object, a leather wallet overflowing with receipts and tiny pictures. Ashlyn wraps her fingers around it and sprints after the woman; she’s already pretty far down the beach and bobbing her head along to the music coming from her earbuds.

“Hey! Miss!” Ashlyn calls. “Dude!”

Ashlyn grabs the woman’s wrist and tugs her, hand with the wallet outstretched. The woman spins around and Ashlyn gets of a feeling that feels like zooming out. Her brain or her consciousness or something, it leaves her body and she’s floating. She sees the woman in front of her -- big, brown eyes and cheekbones that could probably cut diamond -- but the image is far away.

As quickly as it happens, she’s focusing again. She’s coming back to earth. Her hand is still gripping the woman’s wrist. But instead of the skin being a washed-out gray, it’s peachy, tanned. Ashlyn looks up. She’s closer to this chick than she ever planned on being, the woman’s hand on Ashlyn’s shoulder and it occurs somewhere in the back of Ashlyn’s mind that if this were a romance movie, she would lean in and kiss this girl.  
It’s not a movie.

“Thank you.” The woman says quietly. “I-- well.”

“You can see it too, right?” Ashlyn asks.

“Yes.” The woman shakes her head, dark hair cascading down exposed shoulders. “Sorry. I’m Ali.”

“Ashlyn.”

***

“The water’s so blue.” Ashlyn breathes. Ali’s sitting next to each other, their knees bumping together and their shoulders pressed against one another. “I think it looks bluest on Wednesdays, don’t you think?”

“I think you’re delusional.” Ali giggles. Ashlyn’s lucky; Ali loves the water just as much as her and she’s laid back, too. It’s their magic day, the day when Ali doesn’t stay late at the high school and when Ashlyn doesn’t work evenings, only mornings, and they can sit out on the beach and watch the waves crash into the shore. It’s a whole new world to Ashlyn.

Blue’s so much more than a word to her now. It’s a feeling.

A good one.

“I think you might be right.” Ashlyn replies. “But there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I’ve yet to find something wrong with you,” Ali says. “So things are looking pretty bright for us, I think.”

“Well, I mean, it’s not like we’ve got a choice.” Ashlyn glances over. The universe really picked a good one. Ali’s soft in more ways than one. Her hands are always smooth and warm, her eyes are deep and genuine. She speaks in a mumble and sometimes slips into German accidentally before stammering back into English. There’s probably a million more quirks to her, but they’ve only been doing this soulmate thing for a few weeks and that’s not nearly long enough to learn all of Ali’s ins and outs.

“I’m not complaining about the choice thing, though.” Ashlyn continues, wrapping her arm around Ali’s shoulders. “You’re as amazing as they come.”  
Ali hugs her. Ashlyn still smells like diner food and Ali smells like hand sanitizer and perfume. They fit together like puzzle pieces. “You’re not too bad yourself, Harris.”  
With Ali, Ashlyn sees every color.

***

They buy a house together. It’s an exhausting process that requires a huge moving truck and more cardboard boxes than Ashlyn’s ever seen. Ali organizes everything and Ashlyn helps the movers carry out the larger objects. It’s two floors, kind of skinny from the front, and the outside siding is baby blue. Ashlyn splurges on a porch swing. Ali buys a million different seeds to grow in the garden.

“You two are far too adorable.” Alex says, reclining on the sand-colored loveseat in the living room. Tobin’s sitting on the floor playing tug-of-war with her dog, Thorn, while Ali sits in the rocking chair with her little terrier asleep in her lap. “I’m so glad Ash found you.”

“Me too.” Tobin adds.

“I’m glad I found her.” Ali says. “I mean, all the self-help books say to not let finding your soulmate define your life. But there’s something really satisfying about it.”

“It’s relaxing.” Tobin agrees, nodding her head.

“Not just that,” Alex says, reaching her hand down to bump her fist again Tobin’s. “Amazing, too.”

Ashlyn comes back into the room with cheese and crackers on a very fancy-looking plate. She kisses Ali’s forehead as she walks past, putting the platter on the coffee table before falling back on to the couch. Tobin scoffs. “You’re so whipped, dude.”

“And what are you?” Ashlyn asks with an eyebrow raised.

Tobin doesn’t answer; she just sticks out her tongue.

***

Alex and Tobin look beautiful. Their dresses are color coordinated and Alex has a gigantic orange flower tucked behind her ear. The ocean breeze sends Tobin’s hair flying in front her eyes; Alex tucks it back with a smile and they go back to stand with their hands lazily folded in front of them. Ashlyn can smell the ocean, the salt in the air, the weird warm sand sort-of smell, all mixing together.

She turns around and looks at the water. Tobin was right, it’s so many different colors. That’s why Ashlyn loves blue so much. There’s not just one blue, one end all, be all. There’s so many shades and hues. Some are more on the green side and some are almost clear. Rain is blue, the water is blue, Ashlyn and Ali’s house is blue, but they’re all different.

Tobin bumps her shoulder and Ashlyn straightens up again. She looks at the expanse of sand in front of her. There’s a bunch of people sitting in chairs, all in pretty dresses and fancy suits. Most of them are familiar to Ashlyn although a couple aren’t. Her family’s there. Ali’s family is there. And now, Ashlyn sees her walking from behind sand-colored shades: Ali is here, too.

See, Ashlyn’s always been sure that blue would be her favorite color. It’s a given. She grew up on the ocean. She’s surfed weekly with Tobin, and her home’s color scheme is blue. It’s the ocean. It’s Alex’s eyes, which right now, are crying a little bit. It’s the color of her best friend’s dress. It’s the color of the perfectly clear sky right now.

But with Ali standing ten feet away with blue flowers in her hands and blue gems in her ears, Ashlyn is pretty sure her favorite color is white. Like the dress Ali’s wearing that’s just a little too short to drag in the sand and shows off her white sandals with the blue studs on the straps. Ashlyn remembers the style from Alex’s wedding magazine -- mermaid style.

Ali smiles, and Ashlyn smiles back.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Make sure to leave a comment -- I love reading them and answering them!


End file.
